Efficiency versus civil liberties

[pjohns]

It is certainly an appropriate question--anytime; but especially now: Is efficiency in government a higher value than civil liberties; or should it be viewed the other way around?

For reference, the Chinese form of government is certainly more efficient than ours; but civil liberties are practically nonexistent there.

So would we wish to trade our form of government for that of the Chinese?

Think about it...

[nathanbforrest45]

China's government is only more efficient if the people belong to the state. If the state belongs to the people it is not more efficient. China only appears to be more efficient because the people lack basic freedoms and the government has the power to do what it wants when it wants. I wouldn't trade my freedoms for 10 seconds of the slavery of communism.

[usaf81]

What makes you think the Chi-coms are more efficient? You been watching CNN again?

China has a totally incompetent lower and middle management in Govt. thats afraid to make any decision that could end up being seen as against the party line. They are petrified of that. The party is ran at the top by a bunch of A-holes that threw a communist party party in Wuhan, including a banquet for 40,000 families, even tho they knew there was a dangerous virus spreading. Imagine that?

Their building codes are nonexistant, corruption is rampant, their air and water are horrendous in the best of times, every bit of data coming out of that place is a Lie. Even so their GDP is only $18,00 per capita, which is a Lie anyway, "ours is $59,000". They have no freedom of speech, no real individual rights, they have a concentration camp system with a million people inside who's only offense is they way they chose to worship God. One thing they have going for them is they have no illegal immigration problem because who in hell would want to live there?

And lastly they infected the entire world with a bad virus even tho they could have contained it and at the least helped coordinate a better world response except for their affinity for Lies and deception.

But yes, other then all that they are very efficient.

[patrickt]

Government is a necessary evil. Our Constitution was written to protect us from our government. We haven't been vigilant and the government is out of control and an unconstitutional branch of government, the Deep State, is taking power.

[Lummy]

It is certainly an appropriate question--anytime; but especially now: Is efficiency in government a higher value than civil liberties; or should it be viewed the other way around?

The question doesn't make any sense. What do you mean by efficiency and by civil liberties?

If you walk into a meeting and shoot everyone dead, you are very efficient in marshaling agreement, and they don't care about their civil liberties.

Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. -- Mao.

[waltky]

No!

[Standing Wolf]

There is efficiency, and there is the appearance of efficiency. When the police were searching for one of the Boston Marathon bombers and rousting entire neighborhoods of people out of their homes at gunpoint, some without even being allowed to put on a coat or shoes, because they had "intelligence" that the suspect was in the area, I'm sure it appeared to some folks that the BPD was doing something very rational and necessary. The authoritarian mindset rankles at the prospect of being hindered or slowed down in any way by considerations of individual rights and freedoms. I have known cops who spoke glowingly about the idea that they could simply walk into any home or business and look for evidence of a crime - no warrant, no probable cause - because they saw it as the most "efficient" way to catch lawbreakers.

[Cletus]

Rights, once surrendered, are lost forever.

The answer to the question posed in the OP is not just no, but Hell NO!

[Peter1469]

Government is a necessary evil. Our Constitution was written to protect us from our government. We haven't been vigilant and the government is out of control and an unconstitutional branch of government, the Deep State, is taking power.

Yet we have leftists pleading for authoritarianism to save them from COVID-19. Where did this weakness come from?

Look at some posts here. Demanding that the federal government act in ways contrary to our Constitution and in opposition to our rights.

[patrickt]

Efficiency vs. effectiveness. Dictatorships are great at efficiency, consider Stalin's purges and Hitlers Holocaust, but rank very low on effectiveness. Neither of the dictatorial decisions, though very efficiently carried out, were effective in achieving a desirable outcome.

President Lyndon Johnson Great Society was very efficiently implemented but was not at all effective. President Obama was very efficient in attacking America but not effective beyond his reign.

I might wonder if President Trump isn't less efficient but more effective.